Abstract
Categorical data are data that capture a characteristic of an experimental unit (such as a tissue specimen) rather than a numerical value. In this chapter, we first describe types of categorical data (nominal and ordinal) and how these types of data are distributed (binomial, multinomial, and independent multinomial). Next, methods for estimation and making statistical inferences for categorical data in commonly seen situations are presented. This includes approximation of the binomial distribution with a normal distribution, estimation and inference for one and two binomial samples, inference for 2×2 and R×C contingency tables, and estimation of sample size. Relevant data examples, along with discussions of which study designs generated the data, are presented throughout the chapter.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Murrell, A., Heeson, S., Cooper, W. N., Douglas, E., Apostolidou, S., Moore, G. E., Maher, E. R., and Reik, W. (2004) An association between variants in the IGF2 gene and Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome: interaction between genotype and epigenotype. Hum. Mol. Genet. 13(2), 247–255.
Kanaya, A. M., Wassel Fyr, C. L., de Rekeneire, N., Shorr, R. I., Schwartz, A. V., Goodpaster, B. H., Newman, A. B., Harris, T., and Barrett-Connor, E. (2005) Predicting the development of diabetes in older adults. Diabetes Care 28(2), 404–408.
Ohman, E. M., Armstrong, P. W., Christenson, R. H., Granger, C. B., Katus, H. A., Hamm, C. W., O’Hanesian, M. A., Wagner, G. S., Kleiman, N. S., Harrell, F. E., Jr., and others. (1996) Cardiac troponin T levels for risk stratification in acute myocardial ischemia. N. Engl. J. Med. 335(18), 1333–1341.
Lacy, P. D., and Piccirillo, J. F. (1998) Development of a new staging system for patients with recurrent laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer 83(5), 910–917.
Cai, Y. C., Yang, G., Nie, Y., Wang, L., Zhao, X., Song, Y., Seril, D. N., Liao, J., Xing, E. P., and Yang, C. S. (2000) Molecular alterations of p73 in human esophageal squamous cell carcinomas. Carcinogenesis 21(4), 683–689.
Stokes, M. E., Davis, C. S., and Koch, G. G. (1995) Categorical Data Analysis using the SAS® System. Cary, SAS Institute.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Perkins, S.M. (2007). Statistical Inference on Categorical Variables. In: Ambrosius, W.T. (eds) Topics in Biostatistics. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 404. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-530-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-530-5_5
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-531-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-530-5
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols